A New Light
by Savannah Rivers
Summary: Ryan Wolfe is now a Level 3 CSI.  Everything is going good for him, putting bad guys away, etc.  But, that all changes when 15-year-old Laney Bordeaux shows up.  Read More.
1. Chapter 1

"Hi, is Mr. Is Ryan Wolfe here?"

"What is your name?"

"Melanie Bordeaux. I need to see him please."

"Alright, just go sit over there and I'll get him."

"Thank you Officer…Dominguez."

"You are welcome." The officer smiled and sat down in the waiting room. She pulled her hair back into a tight bun and straightened her shorts down when she went to go sit down.

Officer Dominguez picked up the phone and called Ryan Wolfe's extension.

"Hi, is this CSI Wolfe?" She said in a what to find out what's going on voice.

"Yes?" Ryan Wolfe spoke. His voice was urgent and it sounded like he wasn't pleased to be disturbed.

"I have someone for you down here. Would you like for me to bring her up?"

"Who is it?" His voice laced with curiosity.

"She said her name was Melanie Bordeaux. Do you know her?"

"Um, no. But, I'll go down there and meet her. Thank you Officer."

"You are welcome." Officer Dominguez hung up the phone and returned back to work.

Melanie sat patiently in the waiting room. She picked up a random magazine and started reading it. Her looks deceived what she was actually feeling. Her heart was going 90 miles per hour and her eyes never read a single word on that page. She tapped her foot on the ground and counted the beats per minute. Every time that elevator would ding she would almost jump out of her seat.

"Stay calm, cool, and collected." Her mother taught her to stick by that when something major was happening. It worked too. Just breathe, she thought to herself.

"That name sounds so familiar. I swear I heard it before." Ryan Wolfe said, pulling his latex gloves off and threw them in the trash can. He swung the glass door open and briskly walked to the elevator. Erik and Calleigh were in the elevator when he got in there.

"Where are you going Ryan?" Calleigh asked. Ryan turned to face them and said:

"Down to the lobby."

"Following a lead?"

"Yeah . . . Following a lead." The elevator dinged and Erik and Calleigh got off.

"See you later." Ryan didn't say anything. The elevator doors closed and Ryan checked the time on his phone. 3:58pm. Just one minute ago he checked it again. He had a feeling about this meeting. It was off feeling.

_Finally._ The elevator doors pulled out and Ryan walked down to Officer Dominiguez's post.

"Where is she?" He asked.

"Right over there." The officer pointed over there towards the girl sitting in the waiting room. Through the window he saw she had medium long brown hair and bright blue eyes. She had crisp white skin with light freckle dotted on her arms.

"Alright. Did she say what she needed?" Dominiguez shook her head. Ryan thanked her then walked over towards her. She threw down the magazine and stood up.

"Are you Ryan Wolfe?"

"Yes, who are you? Please sit." Ryan sat down beside her and she took a heavy breath.

"My name is Melanie Bordeaux. You can call me Laney. Anyway, I'm here about my mother, Claire Bordeaux. She knew you." His thoughts had already drifted. Ryan met Claire while she was attending Florida International University. He dated Claire for about a 1 year and a half. Then they broke up because she was moving to Shreveport, Louisiana to be with her family. That was about 15 years ago.

"Yes, I knew Claire very well. Is she okay?"

"That's what I am here for. We just moved to Miami about a month ago and she went out that morning to go to work and she never came home. That was yesterday morning. This is not like her to do this. She is always at home when she said she was going to be home."

"Okay, where does Claire work?"

"A biotechnical company…I believe the name is Hilton Enterprises. She's been working there since before I was born. She transferred over there after she graduated from FIU. She had a picture, and labeled it and it was the night of her graduation. You were in it. That's how I knew you had known my mama. Plus, I saw you on the news that you were a CSI." Her eyes were tired looking and her voice sounded like a drag to even talk.

"Hilton Enterprises. Alright, hold on there." Ryan stood up and walked a few feet out of ear shot of Laney and called Horatio.

"Hello?"

"H, um I got to talk to you about something."

"What is it?" Horatio asked. Ryan heard traffic in the back, so he knew he must have been out.

"A girl named Melanie Bordeaux says her mother, Claire Bordeaux, was taken from her work. She was last seen leaving for work yesterday morning. The daughter says that Claire works at Hilton Enterprises and biotechnical company."

"While I am in town, I'll check it out. Call Erik out to Hilton Enterprises. In the meanwhile, talk to her daughter and find out more." Click! The phone went. Ryan glanced back over towards her and dialed Erik and told him what he was to do. Ryan than walked back over there to where Laney was standing now.

"Alright, my boss and another CSI are on their way over to her work. Come on with me and we will go up to my work area okay?" Laney nodded her head and followed him. Something that bothered him was her age. She looked like she was probably a junior in high school. Once they were in the elevator, her words were coming out faster than the internet.

"Who were you to my mama? How did you meet her? How do you know she is still at her workplace?"

"Whoa whoa whoa. Alright, slow down I didn't understand a word you just said."

"How do you know my mama?" Ryan paused for a second.

"I met her while I was on a case near FIU and she was a witness."

"Ya'll were friends?"

"Yes."

"Why are you going to her workplace?"

"We might find something to indicate where she might be." The rest of the ride was silent and they walked to his work station quietly.

"Do you have any other family members?"

"No. Mama didn't have any brothers or sisters."

"What about your father?"

"Never met him. Though Mama talks about him all the time as if she just met him yesterday. She told me that him and her broke up a long time ago."

"Do you even know his name?"

"No, Mama wouldn't ever tell me."

"Oh." Ryan said. Ryan grabbed a piece of paper and a pen and jotted down a to do list of things. Laney sat down near the window and stared out onto the pavement near the street. Ryan went back to work and Laney just sat there staring at him. He was typing away on his computer. Then his phone started ringing.

"Wolfe."

"Hey, we found Claire's purse. She had some alcohol in a mouthwash bottle and her wallet. Ryan, call Child Services and get the home address."

"Hey, Laney, what is your home address?"

"Coconut Grove…" And trailed on. "Why do you need my address?"

"Just following a lead." H thanked him and hung up.

"How old are you CSI Wolfe?" He looked up and her and placed his hands shoulder length apart on the table.

"Just call me Ryan and that's kind of a random question isn't it?"

"Yeah, but I'm 15 if that helps."

"I'm 35."

"Cool beans. How long have you been working here?"

"A very long time it seems."

"Who is the guy that you keep calling?"

"My boss, Horatio Caine."

"Is this what you've always done? Work here in this lab?" She jumped up and stood straight across from Ryan.

"You sure are the inquisitive type." Just then Calleigh walked in. Her and Erik just came back apparently.

"Hey, Ryan, I got something for you." Then she saw Laney.

"My name is Calleigh Duquesne and I work here too." She said smiling. Her smile was warm enough there would be no winter.

"My name is Melanie Bordeaux. Just call me Laney."

"Hey, Laney, do you think you could step outside for a couple of minutes and let me talk to Ryan?"

"Sure. It's boring in here when you have nothing to do," She went to the door and stopped. "I'll be right outside." Ryan nodded and she walked out.

"Ryan, why is she in here? I'm not mad she is in here, but if she touches something that compromises evidence."

"I know. I just met her about 45 minutes ago. But her mother, Claire, I knew her." Ryan jotted something else down, but Calleigh paid no mind to that.

"You need to be a little more careful. But, I trust your judgment. So what's this about her mother?" Calleigh propped on the side of the table.

"Claire has gone missing and Laney was here because she found a picture of me with her mother on her Claire's High school graduation."

"Alright, have you already talked to H?" Calleigh asked pulling down her shirt. And noticing his to do list.

"Yeah, I just did. He said him and Erik went to her work place and found her purse. Then they went over to their home and they haven't contacted me back yet." Ryan looked outside the door and saw Laney just sitting on the chair in front of the window gazing out unto the front of the building. Lost in her own thought nobody else mattered. That was just how Claire was.

"Alright, I'm going to go over and ask Natalia if she can look after…"

"Laney."

"See if she can look after Laney while we are gone." Ryan nodded his head and him and Calleigh went out the door.

"I'll be at Natalia's lab." Calleigh briskly walked down to her lab. Ryan went over and propped against the window.

"Hey, Laney, can I ask you a favor?"

"Sure," She jumped down from her perch and stood tall. "What do you need?"

"In order to find your Mama I have to go out and collect some evidence. Do you think you can stay here in the lab with another CSI?" Ryan really hoped she would say yes.

"Who is it? Have they been on TV?"

"Yes, a couple of times. Her name is Natalia Boa Vista." Laney smiled died down a little but not too much.

"Yeah okay I guess. You'll be back soon right?" Her eyes widen and her smile just a little bigger. Ryan felt that he knew her from somewhere but he didn't.

"Yeah, I'll walk you down to her lab." Ryan led her to Natalia's lab where Calleigh was talking about them both.

"Hey, you must be Laney?" Natalia asked.


	2. Chapter 2

"Yes, I'm Laney. Laney Bordeaux. You must be Natalia?"

"Yes I am. Why don't you come sit over here beside me and we'll talk." Natalia smiled. Laney looked at Ryan before she walked over around the lab table.

"Alright, we'll be back. Natalia we will keep you updated." Ryan nodded before him and Calleigh walked out.

"Hey, Laney, what do you like to do, like hobbies or sports activities?"

"I play beach volleyball and I like to read."

"Cool beans. When I was in high school I played just regular volleyball. And I still like to read. What's your favorite genre?" Natalia looked away from her computer to look at Laney. Laney was propped up against the lab table and was looking around.

"My favorite genre is action and adventure with a bit of romance knotted in there somewhere. My favorite series are Alex Rider, Harry Potter, and Per—"

"Percy Jackson! I love that series too!"

"I never took you as a Greek mythology type of lady. Or one who likes kids' book." Natalia said in a whispered voice:

"You are never too old to do anything," Natalia smiled. "Do you have a boyfriend?"

"No, I'm afraid not." Laney was embarrassed by that question.

"That's okay. I didn't get my first one until I was 16 near my 17th birthday. Funny because girls run the world!" Natalia groaned inside her head. She forgot was it was like to be a teenager again.

"Where did Ryan and Miss Calleigh go?"

"Um, they went to go look for your mom. To go get evidence of where she might have gone."

"Is this what you wanted to be when you grew up? A CSI?" Laney asked. She found a chair in the back of the room and pulled it up and sat down right beside the lab table.

"Well yes and no. I wanted to do something for the criminal justice system but I didn't want to be a lawyer or a cop, so I chose the path of doing forensic science. Sometimes I wonder what I would've been like if I chose a different path. Do you know what you want to be when you grow up?"

"Yes. I want to enlist in the Air Force and serve as a Nurse."

"Wow that is great. The military has lots of benefits. If you want to talk to somebody about the military my boss' son is now serving in Army. He's been in there since a year ago I believe."

"Yeah, I thought about it a lot since I was 12. I really want to and I think that is what I will do. I don't know what else I'd be. But, I think I am going to stick with that decision. I'll enlist on my 18th birthday." Laney said. Laney was kind of melancholy since she barely knew Natalia.

"Yeah, have you talked it over with your mom? What does she think about it?"

"Well I've brought it up before but I feel like she's taken it to the back seat. She doesn't pay all that much attention to it. I remember one time we were sitting at the dinner table and I brought it up and she told me to just forget about it and that we'd talk about it another time. Which I don't really understand what she means by that because when I do bring it up, we have to talk about it another time. She doesn't ever want to talk about it with me. I think she does think about it though because it kind of would be like listening to a bird. After you hear it a couple of times you try to make up for what you can't understand about it."

"That was a good analogy." Just then Natalia's phone rang.

_Incoming call from….H_

"Hello?"

"Natalia, is Laney still sitting with you?"

"Yes, she's never left my site. I'm looking at her right now."

"Alright, I need you to bring her to the steps of the building. I need to see her."

"What for? What is going on H?"

"I found a note from somebody and I don't know who it's from. They left it on their kitchen counter in their apartment. Just meet me outside because we have to get her away." Click! H hung up.

"What is it? Did they find Mama yet?" Laney jumped up with wide eyes pleading for answers and for this all just to go away.

"No, not yet. My boss wants to meet us on the front steps of the building. Laney was you mom in any kind of trouble?"

"No, not that I know of. Why? Did somebody do something to her? Oh My God!"

"Alright, calm down Laney. It's going to be okay. We are going to meet my boss outside. He's a good guy."

"Oh mon Dieu, ma maman! Je ne sais pas où elle est allée ou qui a obtenu ses. Oh Mama, où es-tu!" Oh my God, my Mama! I don't know where she went or who's got her. Oh Mama, where are you!

"Calmez-vous, Laney. Nous allons trouver votre maman, je vous promets." Calm down, Laney. We are going to find your Mama, I promise.

"I didn't know you spoke French."

"You didn't bother to ask me. Now, are you okay?" Natalia knelt down in front of Laney and grabbed her hand.

"Are you going to be okay going out there and telling H everything you know?" Laney huffs and puffs a few breaths before returning down from the emotional high.

"Yes."

"Alright let's go." Natalia opens the door for Laney and follows suit. The girls end up downstairs waiting for Horatio to show up. A few minutes later, a man with wispy red hair and sun glasses that resemble aviator glasses and a black suit showed up. He walks over to where the girls are sitting down and talking and Horatio appears.

"Horatio, I—"

"It's okay Natalia," he knelt down in front of Laney. "Laney, my name is Horatio Caine. Can you tell me what happened yesterday morning?" That was when she last seen her mother, Claire.

"Well, Mama woke me up for school at 6am. Then went back into her room to get ready so I could too. At 7:15am we had a breakfast, eggs, bacon, and a slice of cinnamon toast. Since she had to be at work at 8am, she kissed me on my forehead and left. I left 10 minutes afterward in time to walk to school, which starts at 8:10am. I arrived at school and spent all day at school. I had a little bit of money from what I earned so after school ended at 3; I hopped over to Dairy Queen to get an ice cream cone. I left there at 3:30 and ended up at home at 4. I did my homework and I finished it at 5:30. Mama usually comes home about 6:30 so I cooked some chicken and rice. I don't know how to make anything else. But then she never came home. I did worry for her I called her cell phone and it rang a few times and then it went to voice mail. I was worrying about her but it wasn't the first time she stayed a little late to finish paperwork. She usually calls me though. That's why I came in this morning because she never came home last night."

"That was a very through description of what you just gave me. You are a brave young adult. Now, let's get inside, it's fixing to storm." Horatio escorted Laney and Natalia back inside.

"Alright we need to discuss this case. Eric, what did you get?" Horatio asked.

"I found blood in the kitchen and it was a small pool. Next to it was a knife with a small amount of blood. Like they were using it to chop up—"

"Chicken. Laney said she made chicken and rice for dinner."

"Yes, other than that I found a 9 millimeter gun in Claire's closet. It only has four bullets in the magazine." Eric held it up. It looked like a police issue.

"I gave that to her." Ryan spoke up.

"What?"

"Check the magazine. It has a custom design of an eagle perched over an olive branch." Eric grabbed a pair of gloves, put them on, and opened the evidence bag. He took the gun and examined the magazine.

"An eagle with an olive branch."

"Ryan, how did you know that was there?" Calleigh asked. Every eye turned to him. Ryan swallowed hard. He knew he was in deep shit.

"I gave that to Claire. The day we broke up. She was moving to Louisiana so I gave it to her to protect herself."

"How long ago was that?"

"About 14-15 years ago."

"Alright. Is there anything else we should know about you and Claire?" Eric perked up.

"No, not that I know of. But, I did give her a white gold locket with an engrave inscription. I gave that to her for our 1 year anniversary."

"What's the inscription say?"

"It says: Jusqu'à mon dernier souffle, Je t'aime – Ryan."

"Until my last dying breath, I love you—Ryan." Natalia interpreted.

"Why'd you get it in French, Ryan?"

"Because she's French?" Ryan remarked smugly.

"Alright, I didn't find it in her apartment. What about Laney? Do you know anything about her?"

"No, I didn't meet Laney until this morning. It's now 1 I bet she's starving." Ryan said.

"Okay, did you find anything else in the apartment?" Natalia asked Eric.

"No, nothing unusual. But I did find some pill bottles. Not all of them are in the Bordeaux name. There's a Victor Malcowitz, Ivan Bellacoff, Vladislav Porkenski, and a Ramon Caprinsky. All of them have Eastern Europe names. Do you think any one of these is Ivan Sarnoff's old cronies?" Eric asked.

"I don't know. Ryan, how is your friend Mark Gantry? Is he still in touch with any one of them?" Ryan looked at Calleigh with a death glare.

"No, he is not in contact with any of them. I know this because I was just at his place the other day."

"Horatio, did you find anything at the Hilton Enterprises?" Ryan asked, getting pissed off really too quickly.

"We went through her desk and didn't find anything except some pill bottles. We got her personnel file from her boss. He said that all she did was make sure all the paperwork was together to be filed. Everyone turned in their paperwork to her. All their reports, and inventories list, clock time in and out," Horatio bent over and picked up a box the Eric had brought in. "This is all the paperwork she had in her hand yesterday while she was at work. Eric and Natalia sort through this paperwork. I'll call Child services to look after her for a while. Calleigh would you research this gun please and see if you can pull finger prints off of it. Ryan, I and Tripp will go look for the pill bottle owners." Everyone broke into their little groups and Horatio and Ryan were on their way down to pick up Tripp.

Once they got Tripp they got into Horatio's Hummer and rode to the address of Victor Malcowitz. They arrived fifteen minutes late, only to find out it was an old sugar refinery. Once inside Ryan froze.

"This is where I was tortured. Right there." He pointed to the spot where the table and the window met and where his feet dug deep holes into the sugar.

"Are you going to be okay?" Horatio asked.

"Yeah, I'll be fine. H, I see something over here!" Ryan gently put down his CSI kit and pulled on his latex gloves. A couple of drops of blood were scattered in random places. Ryan swabbed the sugar and dropped the chemical that shows whether it's blood or not on the swab and it turns bluish/purplish.

"It's blood." He packs it into its box and gets a jar and sweeps up the sugar into the jar.

"Hey, Ryan, come take a look at this." Ryan stands up and walks over to where Horatio is pointing.

"What does that look like to you?"

"It looks somebody carved into the wood." Ryan took his hand and smeared it over the carving and wiped away everything else.

"C.B. Claire was here," Ryan continued to rub over it and around it. "It also says—"

"Watch out." Ryan and Horatio turned around to face three men.

"And who are you guys?" Ryan asked.

"Who are you?" The one in the middle wore black jagged leather gloves. He had on black pants and a black turtle neck shirt. Ryan saw a tattoo on all three guys' neck. A spider web. On the guy in the middle he saw the tip of what looked like a cat. Ryan looked over to H and whispered.

"They are Russian Mob."

"I know this," H told Ryan then looked over there towards the three men. "What do you want?"

"Just to tell your CSI right there, that his girlfriend won't be alive much longer. Neither will her daughter." The guy now allowed his Russian accent to come through.

"What the hell do you mean? If you lay a hand on either of them I will—" Ryan took a step forward, fixing to draw his gun. He had to refrain because they would kill him and H if he did something else wrong.

"Oh look your time has run out." Then Ryan felt a sharp pain hit him in the head from behind. And then he fell down. His vision was blurring in and out and the last thing he remembered seeing was that one of the three Russian men was laying on the ground about five foot away. He heard screaming and heard feet shuffling and then a cry. Then everything went black.


End file.
